UMass Bans Iranian Students from Some Science Programs

They claim they're following U.S. sanctions against Iran. The State Department disagrees.

UPDATE: The college released a statement revising their policy, saying they would allow Iranian students in with individually tailored curricula that still conforms to federal sanctions. This came after consultation with the State Department.

The University of Massachusetts at Amherst is no longer allowing Iranian nationals to enroll in many science and engineering courses, citing recent sanctions against the country. The school has banned Iranian students from graduate programs in the natural sciences, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, or computer engineering.

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UMass claims the federal government sanctions are the reason behind the prohibition. Yet the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 only prohibits Iranian nationals from studying in the U.S. and returning to their home country to work in energy or nuclear engineering—it's not a broad ban against them taking certain courses.

The move is unique among universities. Typically, the issuing of student visas is handled federally, on a case-by-case basis, as a State Department official told the Boston Globe. Iranian students at UMass have criticized the move, saying it generalizes all Iranians rather than considering their individual academic pursuits.

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